The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee issued this statement late Thursday:

In press statements issued on June 29 and July 2, 2012, the DCCC made unsubstantiated allegations that attacked Sheldon Adelson, a supporter of the opposing party. This was wrong. The statements were untrue and unfair and we retract them. The DCCC extends its sincere apology to Mr. Adelson and his family for any injury we have caused.

The apology comes in response to a letter Adelson's attorney sent the DCCC a couple of weeks ago calling on it to "immediately retract and apologize for defamatory statements falsely accusing Mr. Adelson of encouraging and profiting from prostitution, maliciously branding Mr. Adelson as a pimp who has given 'Chinese prostitution money' to your political opponents."

On June 29, the DCCC had sent members of its press list an Associated Press article published in the Boston Globe, "Sheldon Adelson Approved 'Prostitution Strategy': Fired Former Sands Executive." That article is no longer available on the Globe's site at the link sent out, although it can still be found at other media outlets.